Drogon is ready to land at his new home.

The 15,000-pound, fire-breathing Game of Thrones steel dragon made by a Chilliwack artist is finally ready to be shipped to Utah.

It took two years for metal sculptor Kevin Stone to build Drogon, one of the dragons in the popular HBO TV series, for a man who commissioned the piece.

And even though he lost financially in the end, he said he still won.

The marketing and advertising generated from posting photos and videos to social media of Drogon resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in new projects.

B次元官网网址淭hat piece alone puts me on another level on the world stage as an artist,B次元官网网址� Stone said.

ItB次元官网网址檚 the second dragon heB次元官网网址檚 made. The first one was a Chinese dragon built in 2009, but he always wanted to build a fire-breathing dragon.

In 2019, that day finally came.

He got a call from a man named Matthew Focht who was at Dollywood standing in front of an eagle that Stone made. Focht said the eagle was B次元官网网址渦nbelievableB次元官网网址� and he wanted one for his roundabout at his home, recalled Stone.

B次元官网网址淚 said B次元官网网址榊ou know, I could build anything. It doesnB次元官网网址檛 have to be an eagle,B次元官网网址� and he said B次元官网网址榃hat about a Game of Thrones dragon?B次元官网网址� I didnB次元官网网址檛 even know what Game of Thrones was when he said that, I just heard B次元官网网址榙ragon.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Stone and his wife Michelle then binge-watched the series (all but one season) in about a week.

B次元官网网址淥nce I saw Drogon, I realized I kind of bit off more than I could chew for what the quote was.B次元官网网址�

Stone and Focht agreed on a price tag of $110,000 USDB次元官网网址� before Stone knew anything about Drogon.

He didnB次元官网网址檛 realize how many horns and spikes were on the dragon and how difficult they would be to make, in addition to other details like scales, fins and wings.

Plus Focht wanted it to breathe fire.

B次元官网网址淕otta have fire, itB次元官网网址檚 a dragon,B次元官网网址� Stone said.

As he added more and more details and features, the project snowballed. The $110,000 USD paid for the materials, but not the labour.

B次元官网网址淚 did two things: I underbid it by a long shot and I overbuilt it because I got carried away.B次元官网网址�

If anyone were to ask Stone how he built his 15,000-pound steel dragon that stands 30 feet tall (with the tail mounted), is 55 feet long and 45 feet wide, they might be surprised with his reply.

B次元官网网址淢ost of itB次元官网网址檚 all just visualB次元官网网址� and then I just start building.B次元官网网址�

He literally looks at pictures and then constructs it.

How?

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 know,B次元官网网址� he admitted.

Well, Stone does have 33 years experience in the metal industry.

B次元官网网址淚 wanted a big dragon so I started with the mouth,B次元官网网址� he explained, B次元官网网址渁nd I built the head.B次元官网网址�

He plunked the head on a stand.

B次元官网网址淚 went up on a ladder and looked down at the head and tried to visualize it on the floor. Then I took kidsB次元官网网址� chalk and I drew it out on the floor B次元官网网址� how long his neck would be, how fat his body needed to be.B次元官网网址�

Once he visualized that and measured the chalk drawing, he figured out how big the tubular frame would be from the neck to the tail. He calculated that the ring-shaped supports needed to be placed three feet apart and would gradually get bigger in size from the neck to the body and then decrease towards the tail.

He started Drogon in October 2020 and finished it in December 2022. ItB次元官网网址檚 made of heat-treated steel.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e turned what should have been easily a one-year job into a two-year job,B次元官网网址� he said.

Granted, there were some bumps in the road.

In April 2021, he was forced to move the dragon from an automotive shop near downtown Chilliwack to his current workshop near Yarrow.

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Then earlier in 2022, he stopped working on it for at least six months when he realized the dragon didnB次元官网网址檛 have a home.

Focht was living in California at the time of the deal in 2019 and later sold his house to live on a yacht with his family for a year. When Focht bought a house in Utah and Stone realized Drogon had a new home, he went back to work on the dragon.

But the new location did bring up a concern.

B次元官网网址淚 would like to see him go to an indoor place like a museum where heB次元官网网址檚 protected from the elements and would last. HeB次元官网网址檚 going into the most extreme of elements now.B次元官网网址�

Drogon was supposed to be installed in California in a driveway and now the sculpture is going to the mountains of Utah where there are 100-mile-per-hour winds. The tail and wings are like giant sails, he said.

B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 going to be under a lot of physical stress. ItB次元官网网址檚 good that I built him so strong,B次元官网网址� Stone said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not worried about him actually breaking, itB次元官网网址檚 the fatigue on the wings. You could start seeing welds crack eventually.B次元官网网址�

During the six-month period he paused work on Drogon, Stone was busy building other projects.

The popularity of the fire-breathing dragon grew and grew as the months went by. Mostly thanks to Drogon, Stone took on several more projects over the past two years including: three eagles, an Elon Musk head, a T. Rex, and two abstract pieces B次元官网网址� one called B次元官网网址榩earl of the oceanB次元官网网址� and the other B次元官网网址榳arrior angel.B次元官网网址�

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With business booming, itB次元官网网址檚 been hard to fit all the projects in the space so heB次元官网网址檒l be moving to a different workshop in Chilliwack in the new year. Currently heB次元官网网址檚 in 2,850 square foot building with 14-foot ceilings near Yarrow. The new space is 8,600 square feet with 20-foot high ceilings.

He also hired two young tradesmen to help him. For the past several months, Josh Guretzki and Brandon OB次元官网网址橲hea have been welding, shaping and hammering Drogon to perfection alongside Stone and his wife Michelle.

Over the past few weeks the team has been putting the final touches on the dragon including painting it with Penatrol, an oil-based coating that prevents the steel from rusting.

In early December, Stone got the propane puffer system up and running so it can shoot fire remotely. Open up the dragonB次元官网网址檚 belly and youB次元官网网址檒l find a propane tank, valves, charging system, 12-volt battery and and a computer system.

The whole thing is controlled by a key fob.

B次元官网网址淥ne button would turn the valves on and get the gas going, the next button would trigger the sparkers for the pilot lights, and you hit the trunk key to shoot fire,B次元官网网址� Stone said.

Unlike the real Drogon in Game of Thrones, StoneB次元官网网址檚 Drogon doesnB次元官网网址檛 reign fire. Rather, the flames that shoot out of his mouth last just a few seconds, but itB次元官网网址檚 still very impressive.

Drogon will be shipped at a cost of $31,000 USD in January. It will take three trucks B次元官网网址� one for the body, one for the tail, and one for the wings B次元官网网址� to haul it south on the 2,000-kilometre journey to Toquerville, Utah.

No one, not even Stone, has seen the dragon intact since itB次元官网网址檚 too big to fit in his workshop with the tail on. HeB次元官网网址檚 hoping Focht will fly him down to help install it where he can see Drogon in all its glory.

B次元官网网址淲hen I first built the Chinese dragon I thought, B次元官网网址楬ow am I ever going to top this?B次元官网网址� Now I have this and I think this one tops that one. WhatB次元官网网址檚 next?B次元官网网址�